1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a powder supplying device which, in a container which stores a powder, stirs the powder by rotation of a rotating member such as an agitator or the like, and conveys the powder to a powder supply opening, a method of filling a powder into a powder supplying device, and a method of reusing a powder supplying device.
2. Related Art
Image forming devices, such as copiers, printers and the like, which include: a photosensitive drum; a developing device (powder supplying device) which includes therein an accommodating portion accommodating toner, and which feeds the toner out from a feed opening provided at the front so as to supply the toner to the photosensitive drum; a charging device; a transfer device which transfers toner onto sheets; a cleaning device; and a fixing device which carries out fixing on sheets, are widely used conventionally.
The photosensitive drum, the developing device, the charging device, and the cleaning device are formed integrally, and are provided so as to be able to be replaced as a process cartridge.
The process cartridge is provided with an agitator serving as a stirring/conveying member in which a toner stirring portion and a toner conveying portion, which stir the toner in the accommodating portion and convey the toner to the feed opening, are provided integrally.
As an example of a developing device, there is disclosed a developing device using an agitator formed from an elastic sheet of polyphenylene sulfide.
In the developing device, by using polyphenylene sulfide, which has an excellent creep characteristic, as the material of the elastic sheet, unnecessary deformation of the elastic sheet under harsh conditions such as high temperature and high humidity, or the device being left to stand for a long time period or the like, can be suppressed. Further, the toner can be supplied well to a developing roller regardless of the amount of toner within the developing device.
However, in the developing device, when the agitator is rotated in a state in which the amount of toner filled in the developing device is low (e.g., is lower than the axis of rotation of the agitator), at the region where there is no toner, the free end of the agitator contacts the inner wall of the developing device with a force due to rotational force and elastic recovering force, and noise is generated.
Because there are cases in which the image forming device is used late at night or the like, the quietness of the image forming device, including the developing device, is an important problem.
This problem is not limited to the developing device in patent document 1, and the same holds for devices provided with a stirring/conveying member which, within a container accommodating a powder such as a toner or a developer containing a toner or the like, stirs and/or conveys the powder by a rotating body such as an agitator or the like which is elastic.